Tanzania requires Ebola health form from all arrivals, 21-day monitoring for high-risk travellers

Tanzania's Ministry of Health issued Travel Advisory No. 18 on 17 October 2026, requiring every traveller entering the country to complete an online health surveillance form and pass health screening at airports, land borders and seaports, Xinhua reported on 18 October.

The advisory, signed by Permanent Secretary Grace Magembe, took effect immediately. Xinhua said it was issued after the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a recent case in neighbouring Kenya involving a patient who had travelled from the DRC. The ministry's website lists the advisory under 17 October.

The Citizen, a Tanzanian daily, headlined its report "Tanzania tightens Ebola screening after Kenya confirms three cases". Kenya's Ministry of Health confirmed a third Ebola case, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, on 16 October. On 17 October it confirmed four more, three of them health workers who had treated the country's first patient, bringing Kenya's total to seven.

The form must be filled in on the ministry's online portal, before departure or on arrival. The Respondent, a Tanzanian news site, gave the portal address as afyamsafiri.moh.go.tz. Travellers must keep the QR code or reference number the portal issues, for verification by port health authorities.

Screening at entry points includes a temperature check. Suspected Ebola cases, and cases of other infectious disease, are handled under national screening procedures. The advisory says travellers "should provide accurate information and retain the QR code or reference number", The Citizen reported.

Travellers identified as high risk face mandatory daily health monitoring for 21 days, by automated messages or other channels, and must keep answering the messages after they leave Tanzania.

Travellers and transport operators are urged to practise hand hygiene, use sanitisers and avoid unnecessary physical contact. Vehicles and other conveyances, cargo or human remains linked to Ebola or other infectious diseases are to be decontaminated at the point of entry.

Anyone with suspected symptoms can report to the nearest health facility or relevant authorities, call the toll-free number 199 or write to [email protected]. People leaving Tanzania are told to meet the entry requirements of their destination or transit countries.

The Respondent said the measures are implemented under the International Health Regulations (2005), as amended in 2024, and Tanzania's Public Health Act of 2009. The ministry will review the advisory as necessary, Xinhua said.